I spoke with free agent rookie Devin DiDiomete Thursday afternoon. He said he was all set to leave for Crunch camp on Tuesday when his agent called and told him there was a small snag in the negotiations with Columbus for an AHL deal. The agent told him to sit tight, so Devin is hanging out at his home in Stratford, Ont.

DiDiomete said he doesn't know what the problem is, that he's just going with what the agent tells him. I asked him if he is holding out for extra money. He said no. I asked if there might be other teams in the picture. He said not that he's aware of.

"As far as I know, I'll get there (Syracuse) as soon as this is worked out,'' he said.

- There's also nothing new with veteran free agent forward Shane Willis. I spoke with him Thursday and he said he's just waiting to see how preseason injuries and transactions impact the market for his services.

- Funny story from goalie Dan LaCosta, or at least it's funny now.

Tuesday, he was driving from Columbus to Syracuse with goalie Sebastien Dahm. The two around dinner time, the two pulled over at a rest stop in Angola.

They were inside for a few minutes and when they came out, LaCosta noticed that his bumper was almost completely falling off, hanging by a thread. Someone had hit-and-run him while he was parked.

The vehicle was not fit to drive. A Crunch staffer had to drive out to Angola to pick up the two of them. The vehicle was towed here.

"I was just like, are you serious?'' LaCosta said of the car damage. "I was in disbelief.''

It was an annoying start to what LaCosta hopes turns into something of a comeback season for him. Remember, he missed much of the regular season last year after getting hurt in the Elmira bus crash and then missed the playoffs after he took a shot off his mask in practice and suffered a concussion.